Demigods and Wizards: Book One
by Jay S. Black
Summary: It was the summer between Harry, Hermione, and Ron's fourth and fifth years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dumbledore has decided to send seven of his students to Camp Half Blood, 2016. These students will accompany the demigods to prevent the Leo's death. A crossover with Harry Potter, Heroes of Olympus, and just a smidge of Bill and Teds' Excellent Adventure!
1. The Importance of Dramatic Entrances

It was the summer between Harry, Hermione, and Ron's fourth and fifth years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Dumbledore has just learned of the horrible fate of Leo Valdez. Since no magic can bring back the dead, he knows that if he doesn't interfere, Leo would die. This would be a disaster, since Dumbledore stupidly bragged to the Daily Prophet that he can keep any half-blood under his protection from being killed. And Leo is under his protection.

Dumbledore is now in a dire situation. He has handpicked seven of his best-and worst-students to send to 2016.

How the _Mark of Athena_ _really_ happened…and how the muggles-er, mortals-reacted.

Let us join these seven companions, who are disguised as muggles and ready to go to Camp Half-Blood in the guise of demigods.

Chapter the First: In Which the Reader Learns About the Importance of Dramatic Entrances

Professor Dumbledore was seriously regretting his decision to invite the seven into his office. Harry was fine, yes. But Fred and George Weasley were eagerly experimenting with one of Dumbledore's contraptions (this particular contraption, if handled wrong, could explode while turning the offender into a parakeet). Neville Longbottom had knocked over a jar of Veriteserum, and was reciting his offenses (which mostly involved making his grandmother angry) in a monotone while attempting to pick the Veritiserum up. Hermione Granger was conversing eagerly with one of the portraits, while Ron Weasley had an argument with Phineas Nigellus. Meanwhile, Seamus Finnigan had set his hair ablaze, and was sticking his head into the Pensieve to quench it.

Dumbledore stroked Fawkes thoughtfully. Perhaps some good would come out of these seven characters. But then again, (he shuddered inwardly as Fred or George snapped off a piece of his contraption) perhaps not.

"May I have your attention, please?" he asked.

Harry and Hermione quickly faced him. Ron made a final rude gesture at Phineus and turned towards Dumbledore as well. Fred (or George) quickly stuck the broken piece into his pocket and the twins stepped away from the contraption.

Dumbledore pulled Seamus out of the Pensieve and gave Neville the antidote for Veritiserum. Realizing that he had precious few seconds before his ADHD students lost interest, he quickly began to explain.

"Obviously, you all know of your mission. You are to go forward in time to 2016, to Camp Half-Blood in New York, which in turn is in America."

"I'm pure-blood," said Ron.

Hermione gave a sigh of exasperation. "It _means_ that you're half Greek god, have muggle-I mean, mortal."

'Exactly, Miss Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor. As you know, you were selected because of the wizarding Prophecy of the Seven. You are to inform them that you belong to this prophecy, emitting the term 'wizarding', and explain that you must accompany the demigod seven on their mission.

'You are to pretend to be from Camp Demigod in England. Under no circumstances are you to reveal that you are witches and wizards. It could mean the exposure of our kind. You will instead pretend to be half-bloods. I have assigned you all to different cabins, with the help of some of the other staff. Professor Snape strongly advocated to put Mr. Potter in Aphrodite's cabin, which I refused."

"Then what cabins are we going to be in?" Harry asked nervously.

"Snape and I agreed that Ickle Ronniekins should be in Aphrodite, as Harry's replacement," Fred said.

"Shut up," said Ron.

Professor Dumbledore glanced at his pocket-watch. "We don't have much time. They'll be here quite soon."

"Who's they?" Ron asked.

"No matter. Your ride. Anyways. Mr. Finnigan, you shall be in Hephaestus cabin. Hephaestus is the god of blacksmiths and fire."

Seamus looked pleased under his scorched hair.

"Mr. Longbottom, you will be in Demeter."

"The plant goddess?" George interrupted, feeling that this was a bit insulting.

"Mr. Longbottom is one of the best Herbology students we've ever seen. He would be perfect for Demeter."

Neville went pink.

"Fred and George, you are going to be in Hermes cabin. Hermes is the god of pranksters, thieves, and pretty much everything else up your ally."

Fred and George cracked identical evil grins.

"Miss Granger, you are in Athena, goddess of knowledge."

Hermione looked immensely pleased.

"Ron, you are going to be in Poseidon cabin."

"Poison cabin?" said Ron.

"Poseidon. God of water. And finally, Mr. Potter. You'll be in Zeus. He's the lord of the sky."

"No fair," said Ron. Dumbledore ignored him.

"Do you think that you can remember that?"

The group nodded.

"I want your wands on you at all times, but only use them when you can use nothing else. You will be arriving a week before the Argo II leaves for Camp Jupiter, so you'll have a bit of time to train with traditional weapons. Most of your cabins come with powers: do not try to show off. If you need to use one of these 'powers,' conceal your wand and use a spell. You'll figure out what powers you are supposed to have as time progresses. Do I make myself clear?"

The group nodded.

"Good," said Dumbledore. "Any questions?"

Fred raised his hand. "Do we have to do this?"

"It is not required, of course," said Dumbledore. "But if you do, you will all receive 300 points to Gryffindor apiece, have an _excellent_ adventure on your resume, and also be free from any detentions. No detentions, ever again."

Fred and George stared at Dumbledore with awestruck faces. Obviously, they considered this a better reward than having been made kings of the universe.

Suddenly, from the upper floor of the office, they heard a loud thud. It sounded like Peeves had knocked over a bookshelf.

"Ah," said Dumbledore. "They're here."

The seven companions rushed upstairs to see the source of the commotion. When they saw it, they stopped dead. A telephone booth was standing in the middle of Dumbledore's library, and two teenaged boys were coming out of it, looking impressed.

"Excellent!" the taller one said. He had messy dark hair and a red jacket.

"Most triumphant," the other agreed. His hair was curly and blonde, and he wore a light purple flannel shirt.

"Hi?" said Harry.

"How's it going, wizard dudes?" the two said together. Fred and George stared.

"Who…?"

"What…?"

"When…?"

"Where…?"

"Why…?"

"I am Bill S. Preston, Esquire," said the blonde boy.

"And I am Ted Theodore Logan," said the other.

"And together, we are: Wyld Stalyons!" they shouted, doing air guitars.

"Pleased to meet you, Bill S. Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan," Fred and George chorused. "I'm Fred Weasley, and this is my brother George," Fred added. "This is Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, who is not our brother, Neville Longbottom, and Seamus Finnigan."

"I am your brother," said Ron, glaring.

Fred and George ignored him.

"Alright!" said Dumbledore, eager to speed the group on their way. "Bill, Ted, please take these wizards straight to Camp Half-Blood with _no_ extraneous stops along the way?"

"Sounds good, Mr. Wizard Dude!" Bill and Ted chorused. "Right this way, if you please! Step into our phone booth! Now, someone dial 75482499-that'd be you, I guess, Miss Granger-and close the doors, Seamus!"

The phone booth's doors swung shut, and it fell into time.

Dumbledore sighed with relief and went to go fix up his office.

-Camp Half Blood: May 5th, 2016-

Jason Grace and Leo Valdez were practicing throwing spears. Jason's spear landed perfectly in the center of the target. Leo's spear flew madly off course and narrowly avoided Jason's face.

"Watch it!" Jason said irritably, but Leo wasn't listening.

"Jason, look!" he shouted, pointing at the sky. Jason turned towards where Leo was pointing with a sigh. His eyes widened.

Giant clouds were rolling over Camp Half Blood. As they watched, the clouds sealed over the whole valley. A heavy wind began blowing. Leo's spear skittered over the rocks.

"What's going on?" Leo shouted.

"I don't know!" Jason bellowed back. "Did you make someone mad again?"

"NO!" Leo shouted back. "The last thing I did was knock over that giant statue of Aphrodite, two months ago!"

Jason smirked, remembering how Leo had looked like a duck for a month.

"Back to the problem!" Leo yelled, anxious to get away from this dangerous conversation. Jason willed the clouds to dissipate. Nothing happened-in fact, they got thicker. Lighting began to crackle above them. "STOP THAT!" Leo called.

"I'M NOT DOING IT!" Jason shouted. Campers ran into the arena, staring with horror at the red electricity flashing in the sky.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Piper shouted.

Suddenly, a hole opened in the clouds. A huge box fell out of it, and landed loudly in front of Jason and Leo.

Jason drew his sword. Leo grabbed a hammer. They stepped back slowly, as the door of the telephone booth (for that was what the box was) opened.

"Doctor Who!" shouted Leo.

"I don't think that's…Doctor _who?_ "

"What's with the rock music?" Piper demanded, as Bricklin's _Walk Away_ rang through the arena.

Two boys stepped out. Since I have already described them, you will have guessed these characters to be:

"Hello, Camp Half Blood!" the boys shouted. "Weapon wielding teenagers! Adult dude over there! Babes!"

Annabeth looked like she wanted to slap them.

"I am Bill, and this is my esteemed colleague Ted," said Bill. "And we have the greatest honor of introducing you to the most bodacious exchange students from Camp Demigod, England edition!"

Seven teenagers stepped out, some looking a bit shy. Two identical red-headed boys took the lead.

"We're Fred and George Weasley, sons of Hermes," the two said in unison.

"I'm Ron Weasley, son of….um…."

"Poseidon," the bushy-haired girl whispered to him.

"Poseidon," Ron confirmed. Jason and Piper shared a confused look.

"I'm Hermione Granger, daughter of Athena," said Hermione.

"Neville Longbottom, son of…Demeter," Neville muttered.

A black haired, green-eyed bespectacled boy stepped up. Annabeth nearly fainted. She ran over to the boy and punched him in the face, breaking his glasses. He fell to the ground.

The boy stumbled to his feet, holding his glasses and looking angry. Ron charged Annabeth. Hermione and Neville held him back with difficulty, though Hermione was looking angry herself.

"Who do you think you are?" demanded Hermione.

"I thought you were _dead!"_ Annabeth screamed at the confused boy-a boy who she was sure was Percy Jackson.

The boy stared at her.

"Where have you been? Why are you wearing glasses? Who did _this_ to you?" she pointed at the boy's odd lightning-shaped scar. "Was it Zeus?"

"Have we met?" said the boy-with a distinctly British accent, while flattening his bangs. He didn't like people staring at his scar.

Annabeth stumbled back in horror. "Who are you?"

The boy straightened up. "Harry Potter. Son of Zeus."

"Oh, Hades," Annabeth muttered. "I'm so sorry. You just look exactly like someone else-I…"

Harry squinted at her through his broken glasses. "Um…okay."

"Got any Spellotape?" said Ron.

Hermione elbowed him.

"Er-ducky tape?"

Leo pulled out some tape and handed it to Ron, who bandaged Harry's glasses.

"Sorry," said Annabeth again. "Get back to your introductions."

And she melted into the crowd.

"Okay," said the last. "I'm Seamus Finnigan, son of Heffy-estus."

"Hephaeustus," Hermione hissed.

"Hephaestus," Seamus said quickly.

The half-bloods of the crowd stared awkwardly at the group of British 'demigods'. Finally, amid the silence, Chiron the centaur galloped up.

"Most excellent!" Bill said.

"A horse dude!" said Ted.

"I am Chiron, the _centaur_ ," said Chiron pointedly.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. The Centaur!" Bill and Ted chorused.

"Are you two demigods?" Mr. The Centaur asked Bill and Ted.

Bill and Ted shrugged. "Sure, dude!"

"Who's your godly parent?" Chiron asked.

Bill and Ted looked at each other and shrugged. "Missy-I mean Mom," said Bill.

"She does look pretty godly," Ted agreed. "My dad is Captain Logan."

The demigods stared in confusion.

Bill and Ted left the half-bloods of America and England staring and climbed into their phone booth. "Catch you later, esteemed half-god dudes, babes, and Mr. The Centaur!"

The phone booth vanished into the ground.

"That was weird," Jason said, which Leo felt summed it up pretty well.

"So, what are you seven here for?" Chiron asked our seven wizards.

"To answer the call, dude!" Seamus said, then groaned. Obviously, the twenty minutes he had spent with Bill and Ted was twenty minutes too long.

"Huh?" said Annabeth.

"The prophecy," said Harry, like this should be obvious.

"You know," said Fred. "Seven wiz-half bloods should answer the call/to storm or the Fat Friar the world must fall/an oath to keep with a final bread/and hoes with bare arms at the doors of dead."

"That's not how it goes," said Hermione bossily.

"You recite it then, if you're so smart," Ron teased.

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call/to storm or fire the world must fall/an oath to keep with a final breath/and foes bear arms to the doors of death," said Hermione, sounding as usual like she had swallowed the textbook.

"So I got it right," said Fred innocently.

Hermione sighed. The campers seemed unsure how to proceed.

Finally, Leo Valdez broke the tension. He pranced up to Seamus Finnigan and shook his hand. "Son of Hephaestus? You're my brother then! I'm Leo Valdez!"

Annabeth pushed past Leo. "So, if you all are here to answer the call, then…what about us? We're supposed to answer the call!"

"Er," said Harry, who hadn't planned on this. "We'll answer the call with you guys."

"But there's only supposed to be seven!" said Annabeth, who wasn't about to let these British demigods steal her quest.

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call," agreed Hermione. "That doesn't mean that _just_ seven have to go on the quest. Weren't you going to pick up random half-bloods and take a chaperone anyways?"

"How'd you know that?" asked Annabeth.

Hermione winced inwardly and hid her book bag, which contained all of the _Heroes of Olympus_ stories. Fortunately, Fred and George put their arms around her shoulders. "Hermione's amazing mental powers, of course! She can see into the deepest depths of your soul!"

"What?" said Annabeth.

"Um…" said Hermione. "Yes. That's exactly right. It's really rare, but I thought at least one camper would be able to do it in America. Can't children of Athena do that here?"

"What?" said Annabeth.

"That's weird," said Ron.

Fred and George laughed, and the tension broke. The campers swarmed around the British demigods, talking and grinning. Annabeth hung back. "Why can't _I_ read minds?"

At the first available moment, Hermione grabbed Fred and George by their ears and dragged them away from the group.

"What was that for?" demanded Fred.

"Read minds?" Hermione hissed. "Fred, they don't do that here! I don't know legimency. We're going to get exposed!"

"Oops," said George, with a grin. "You'll figure it out."

"Be more careful," she muttered, and went to join Ron.

"I have a _brother?"_ Harry was saying in amazement to Leo.

"Yeah. This is Jason Grace. Son of Jupiter, who is the-"

"Roman form of Zeus," said Hermione.

"Spoken like a true daughter of Athena," said Annabeth.

Leo shrugged, wondering if Hermione was single. Then again, from the way she was looking at Ron…

"So what are these supposed to do?" Ron asked, poking at Jason's cell phone.

"It's a telephone," said Jason.

Ron's smile melted off his face, to be replaced with a look of horror. "Take it back!"

"Are you okay?" said Jason, who was not feeling too confident about these new half-bloods.

"It's a really long story," said Harry, punching Ron lightly. "But these are so small! And they've got, like, no cord! That's so _weird_!"

"Are you guys from a different era or something?" said Jason seriously. "Cause we've got a few people…"

"We're from the future!" said Ron cheerfully. He started humming the theme from _Back to the Future_ and skipped over to the bonfire. "This is so cool! What sort of spell did you put on this?"

"I'm getting a weird feeling about these guys," said Jason.

"What's Facebook?" Fred was asking Piper. "I want one!"

"Okay, everyone," said Chiron. "Time for afternoon training. We'll be working in the arena today. Come on."

"One sec!" Fred shouted. "Done with my Facebook page-woah, guys! Four billion friends already! Am I popular in 2015 or something?"

"No fair!" said George. "Three and a half billion friends."

"Ah, cheer up, Ickle Georgiekins," said Ron.

"Burn!" Fred shouted.

"You're just getting us back for that?" said George. "We said that, like, five years ago."

"Let's go, Ickle Georgiekins," said Ron, and the wizards ran to join the demigods at the arena.

"Are you sure about this?" said Neville nervously, lifting a sword.

"Don't worry about it," said Jason. "I'm sure you'll be grateful for this training in the future."

"When am I going to need a sword?" Neville asked.

"Well…on this quest for starters. And who knows when else? You may need to kill a giant snake in the future or something."

"That'll happen," said Seamus.

"Okay," said Jason. "So you've all got weapons? And…didn't you use weapons in England?"

"We mostly used our powers in England," said Hermione calmly.

"We usually killed the monsters with things like sticks," said Ron. Hermione glared at him.

"So you've all got weapons?" Jason asked again.

Seamus held up his flaming spear, which would both extinguish its flames and turn into a pepper spray canister at the push of a button. Fred and George grinned behind hammers. Hermione had equipped herself with two daggers. Ron had a golden sword, and Harry the same in silver.

"Can I just say something?" Ron volunteered. "This is a bad idea."

"What makes you say that?" asked Leo.

"My hair!" Seamus shouted, grabbing his head. He had accidentally touched his spear to his head. He stuck his head into a spring.

"Clearly not flame retardant," said Leo.

Seamus sat up quickly, his hair smoking. "Am I…supposed to be?"

"Um-well, some Hephaestus campers have fire powers."

"Like Leo," said Jason.

"But it's really rare," said Leo, shooting Jason a look.

"Oh!" said Seamus. "Because I _totally_ have fire powers. I'm just not _immune_ to fire, which is why I don't usually hold fire."

"It hurts his hands," Harry agreed.

"He screams a lot," Ron put in cheerfully.

Leo blinked. "Ookay. So I'm _not_ the only person in the world with fire powers?"

Harry grinned, thinking of the thousands of witches and wizards out there who could perform fire spells. "Apparently not."

"That's disappointing," said Leo. "Here I thought I was something special."

"You are. Trust me," Jason said. "There is no one like you in the world."

After a particularly rough training, the group proceeded to dinner. Neville had fared surprisingly well with the sword, but Harry and Ron had the real talent. Harry had succeeded in disarming Jason twenty minutes in, and Ron had done even better. Fred and George were also uncommonly talented, due to their beater training. Hermione, meanwhile, was simply _awful_ with her knives. She hated harming anyone.

"I have to sit _alone_?" Ron demanded. "But-but what about the rest of my House?"

"Here we call them cabins," said Jason. "And your brother has been kidnapped, his memories wiped, and sent to a different camp. We're going to retrieve him in a week."

Ron turned to Harry. "Was it Percy? _Please_ tell me that Percy's been kidnapped. And do we _have_ to rescue him?"

"You-you know Percy?" Annabeth nearly shrieked.

"Yeah," said Ron. "Unfortunately. Prat that he is."

"Percy is not a prat!" Annabeth shouted.

"Are you Penelope Clearwater Two?" asked Ron.

"Who's Penelope Clearwater?" Annabeth demanded.

"His girlfriend. Idiot. _Why_ someone would want to be with Mr. Bighead Boy…"

"But _I'm_ his girlfriend!"

"I would advise you to break up with him," said Fred with an angry look on his face. He followed this statement by calling Percy a rude name.

"Guys…" Harry started, getting a bad feeling.

"Don't you _dare_ call Percy Jackson that, you disgusting-"

Ron's angry look was replaced with horror. "Percy…Jackson? _Not_ Percy Weasley?"

"Oooohhh," said Fred.


	2. One Week Later

Chapter Two: One Week Later

"I feel like Viktor Krum on this thing," said Harry, admiring the Argo II. Ron instantly flopped upon a chair and began giving his best Igor Karkaroff impression.

"You idiots, hurry! Do everything! Meanwhile, bring me vine! Ready my bath! Except for you, Krum! You are my star!"

Harry laughed and bowed to Karkaroff. "But of course, Mr. Karkaroff. And I bring you ze scented vater! And vat a nice tattoo on your arm!"

Harry and Ron collapsed laughing, while Fred and George danced around Ron singing their old song. "Viktor, I love you! Viktor, I do! When we're apart, my heart beats only for yooooooou!"

The British students cheered loudly.

"What are you talking about?" said Leo.

"Sports," said Harry. "Like…um…"

"Soccey," said Ron.

"Soccer," Hermione corrected.

Leo shrugged. He was starting to realize that the British 'demigods' had a culture all of their own. "All ready to set sail?"

Everyone nodded. Leo, joined by Seamus, headed to the control and the ship lifted into the air.

Leo whooped loudly as they soared over the continent. Harry, Ron, Fred, and George seemed unimpressed. "Not as good as flying," Harry admitted to Ron.

"We are flying, stupid," said Leo cheerfully.

Harry chose not to respond.

Meanwhile, Annabeth and Piper were discussing the British demigods. "Something's off about them."

"What do you mean?" asked Piper, knowing perfectly well what Annabeth meant.

"They turn up in a telephone booth- a _magical_ telephone booth. Demigods don't do _magic_ , we have _powers_. There's a difference. Then all these things that seem to happen around them. I break Harry's glasses, and three days later they're _fixed_. No tape or anything. Hermione claims to be able to read minds. They don't sacrifice to the gods. They act shocked when we talk about killing. I've never seen them use their powers. And then there's that stick I saw Ron carrying. He put that away pretty quick."

"What's wrong with carrying a stick?" asked Piper.

"It's not that he was carrying a stick. It's that he was carrying a long, carved stick that seemed polished. And remember what he said about the fire? 'What spell did you put on it?'"

"What are you saying?" said Piper.

"I'm saying that there's something weird about them. We need to keep our eyes open."

"Do you think they're Gaea's spies?" asked Piper nervously.

"No," said Annabeth, with such a firm voice that Piper was shocked. "They are good people. I can just…tell. Look at how they act. Have you ever seen people like them? I mean, how would you describe their attitudes?"

Piper thought. "Well, they're really brave-I'd say, daring. But they've also got a lot of nerve-especially Fred and George. But they've also got so much…what's the word…"

"Chivalry?" suggested Annabeth. "That's the only word I could use to describe it."

Piper nodded.

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Daring…nerve…chivalry…"

"Sounds like three qualities that would make for an _excellent_ story," said Piper. "Like…a story that millions of people would read. Something that would, like, rule your life."

"Do you think we're like that?" said Annabeth.

"Don't be ridiculous," said Piper. "We're not storybook characters."

"If we were, who would be the main character?" Annabeth asked thoughtfully.

"Maybe you? Or Percy?" said Piper.

"I'm not sure. But it definitely wouldn't be Percy."

"Nah," said Fred. "It's definitely me."

Annabeth and Piper started. Fred and George Weasley were standing above them, looking quite suspicious.

Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, but Fred cut in first.

"Listen. Our customs are our business. And maybe we have a bit more magic than you. We're awesome. But we're _definitely_ not working for Gaea. So stop poking your nose where it doesn't belong."

"That's our job," George agreed.

Annabeth blushed. "I just-you guys-"

"We're here!" hollered Leo from the stern. Annabeth and Piper ran up to him, abandoning Fred and George. The two stood together and looked after them.

"She's going to have to stop snooping," said Fred.

"Agreed," said George.

"Some Puking Pastilles might do the trick."

"Nosebleed Nougats."

"Fever Fudge."

"We're not doing that to her, as that would blow our cover," said Hermione, coming up. "But we have to be more careful."

When the last person (Neville) reached the ground, Annabeth was already busy judo-flipping her boyfriend. She then pulled him up. They kissed, while Fred and George played what they considered romantic music on Piper's phone.

"What is _that?"_ demanded Annabeth and Percy, feeling that their romantic moment had just been ruined.

"Well…it said…"

"The band _Van Halen_ is not romantic music!" shouted Annabeth.

"Wasn't Kiss popular in, like, the eighties?" asked Percy.

Fred and George looked up from Piper's phone and gaped. "Harry! How'd you change your accent?"

"I did _what_?" said Harry, behind them. He pushed through the twins and stared at Percy. The two were exactly identical, apart from Harry's glasses.

"Wh-what-" said Percy.

Harry stared. "Have you had any cabbage-tasting, muddy looking gloop within the last hour or so?"

"What? No," said Percy.

"So you always look like that?"

"Yes. And…you always look like that?"

"Yeah."

"Either that's the biggest coincidence in the world, or something really weird is going on," Percy remarked.

"Probably the second," said Harry.

"Always," Percy muttered.

"What is going on?" demanded Hermione.

Suddenly, there was a scream from up above.

A scrawny, ugly scarecrow of a fellow came flying off of the Argo II and landed with a splash in the fountain. He sat up, screaming curse words.

"What's going on?" shouted Neville.

"Look!" Hermione and Annabeth screamed at the same time. Leo Valdez was calmly loading a cannon up on deck. He took aim and fired.

"Leo!" Seamus shouted.

"We have to stop him!" said Harry.

"There's no stopping me!" Leo called down, in a very un-Leo-ish voice.

"We'll climb up this ladder and knock you out!" Piper yelled.

Leo grabbed a knife and cut the ladder down.

"Oh, come on!" shouted Percy. "I really wanted to see that ship."

"No worries!" a burly Chinese dude shouted. He vanished, and was replaced by a dragon.

"AAAUGH!" screamed Hermione.

"Do a Hungarian Horntail!" Ron yelled.

"What is wrong with you, Ron? Do NOT do a Hungarian Horntail!" Harry shouted.

The dragon gave them a ' _seriously?'_ look and knelt down. A pretty African-American girl climbed on, quickly followed by Percy and Annabeth. It leapt into the air and flew to the ship, where it promptly landed on Leo.

"Well done dragoooooon!" shouted Fred and George.

"Destroy the ship!" shouted a girl in a purple cape.

"Do not destroy the ship!" Hermione shouted. The dragon swooped down again and was immediately mounted by Piper, Neville, and Seamus. It flew to the ship, but slower than before. It was obviously tiring.

"We have to do something!" Harry yelled to Ron.

"What do we do?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered something (probably "boys"). She darted behind the girl in the purple cape, who was still shouting at her campers. Seconds later, the girl's cape was smoking.

"Fire!" Hermione shouted. The girl screamed and jumped into the fountain.

The dragon chose this time to swoop down. Fred, George, and Jason climbed on and it flew towards the ship again.

The girl climbed out of the fountain, spluttering and soaking wet. Hermione ran to join Harry and Ron. "This isn't good!"

"No it isn't," Harry agreed.

Far above them, the dragon landed on the Argo II. Fred, George, and Jason climbed off and it took flight again.

Demigods closed in around Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They weren't going to make it.

The nearest raised his ax.

The dragon was still impossibly far away.

"Does this qualify as an emergency yet?" asked Ron.

"We need a distraction!" Hermione shouted.

The demigods surrounding the wizards drew their weapons.

Hermione suddenly screamed and pointed in the air. "Ohmigoodness! It's Lord Voldemort!"

"Where?" Ron shouted in horror. "And, for the last time, it's _You-Know-Who_!"

About two of the demigods looked up, saw no Lord Voldemort or You-Know-Who, and turned back to Hermione, Harry and Ron.

"Bye," said Ron.

The dragon swooped down and grabbed Ron and Hermione in its ivory claws. Harry scrambled onto its back. It flew into the air, leaving the outraged screams of the Roman demigods far behind.

The dragon safely deposited Harry, Ron, and Hermione onto the deck of the Argo II before turning back into an Asian boy.

"That was bloody brilliant," said Ron, looking impressed.

"You're okay!" Fred and George shouted with relief, hugging Ron. "Er-not like we care, of course."

"We have to get out of here!" Annabeth yelled. Seamus instantly ran to the controls and the boat began to sail away.

"Okay," said Percy. "But what's up with the psychopath on the deck?"

"Leo?" said Hermione, cautiously approaching him and poking him. Leo groaned and sat up.

"Did I just-"

"Yes. Yes you did."

Leo closed his eyes and groaned. Percy drew a sword and pressed it against Leo's throat. "What was that for? You nearly destroyed Camp Jupiter!"

"Get back," said Jason, pulling Percy away from his friend. "Leo-explain. Now."

"I-I-don't know," Leo said. "I don't know what happened. It just…happened."

Hermione took charge. "When you were doing it-did you respond to orders inside your head? Did you feel completely and blissfully happy? Do you remember what happened? Do you have blank spots where you can't remember anything? Do you-"

"Let him breathe, Hermione," Ron said.

Leo shrugged. "I don't have blank spots, except for my usual ADHD. I didn't respond to orders in my head. I knew it was wrong-but I just…did it anyways."

"That's not an excuse," said Percy. "Now Camp Jupiter wants to kill us."

"50 points from Leo," said Harry. Leo stared at him blankly.

"Harry, shut up," Hermione advised. "Annabeth, will you help me do some research? We need to figure out why Leo went psycho."

"Why don't we lock Leo in the brig until we figure out what's going on?" Ron suggested.

"That's a horrible thought," said Fred. "Let's just punch him really hard. That'll surely knock him right?"

"A wonderful idea," agreed George. "Or we could stick him in that cool cabinet we stuck Warrington in."

"Montague," Fred corrected.

"We did Warrington in our second year," George reminded Fred.

"Oh!" said Harry. "So that explains why he's so…" he twirled his finger around his temple.

"Shut up, you three," said Seamus, who had the feeling his friends were about to give away something important. "Fix Leo now, plot pranks later."

Fred and George looked at each other thoughtfully. Then their eyes widened at the exact same time.

"What's up?" Percy asked.

"Sorry," said Fred and George together. Percy stared.

"It's a Fred and George thing," Neville explained. "Guys, what's up?"

"What if whatever controlled Leo can control us too?" the twins said together.

Piper glanced quickly at Jason. "That's a really scary thought."

"Maybe it's Piper," suggested Fred. "Have you been Charmspeaking Leo, Piper?"

Piper was not pleased.

"Well, at least Percy and I are safe," said Jason. "I've been acting fine, and Percy just got here. There's no way he would have had time to be affected."

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "No trouble there."


	3. In Which Harry and Ron Ruin Everything

Chapter Three: In Which Harry and Ron Ruin Absolutely Everything (and no one is Surprised)

"An _akkariun_?" Ron said. "Never heard of one. Have you been to an akkariun, Harry?"

" _Aquarium_ ," Harry corrected his friend while Percy, Frank, and Coach Hedge grinned. "And no. Dudley went to one for his birthday, but I had to stay with Mrs. Figg. From what I heard, he punched a shark."

"Who's Dudley?" Coach Hedge asked, impressed. "I like him!"

Harry and Ron smirked. "Dudley's my cousin," Harry explained.

"He's a fat idiot whose life consists of beating up younger kids and throwing tantrums when he doesn't get enough ice cream," Ron added.

"Still like him," Hedge decided.

Harry and Ron were disgusted.

The group eyed the aquarium nervously. "Does anyone have any money?" Harry asked, finally bringing up the topic no one dared to.

"I've got celery," said Hedge.

"That's not money," said Harry. "Percy?"

Percy shook his head. "Frank?"

"Three denarii," said Frank miserably.

"I've got a sickle," Ron offered. Harry winced and mouthed, 'shut up!'

"Like farm tools?" Percy said. "Those things are dangerous."

"You're really weird," Ron decided. "Have you got cash, Harry?"

Harry shook his head. "The only way the Dursleys would give me pocket money is if I offered to leave forever."

Suddenly, a bubbly-looking guide swooped over and snatched Frank's denarii. "That'll do perfectly for our VIP tour! I'm Kate, and welcome to the museum!"

"This is an akkarium," Ron said, in a rather pompous manner.

"Oh. Right." She giggled.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other nervously.

Kate ignored them and pranced inside. "Come on, you guys!"

Percy shrugged. "May as well check it out."

They followed Kate inside.

"…and _here_ is another fish!" Kate said eagerly, pointing to a sea turtle.

"Are you sure she works here?" Harry muttered to Hedge.

"Don't be stupid, kid. Lady's got a badge."

Harry shrugged and tapped Kate's shoulder. "Um, we want to see-"

"The _real_ exhibits?" Kate said eagerly. "I knew it!"

"Um…" said Harry.

"Right this way!" Kate bubbled. She pressed her hand against a wall, which rippled and vanished. Ahead, a long tunnel stretched ahead. Water was reflected eerily on the sides.

Harry, Ron, and Percy glanced at each other. They didn't like this. Harry was almost about to turn away when Hedge marched past the four 'demigods'. "Come on, you slowpokes!"

He followed Kate eagerly into the exhibits, leaving the three others no choice but to follow.

Harry stuck his hand into his pocket. Good, it was still there. His fingers closed around the reassuringly warm piece of wood. Holly and phoenix feather, rubbing against his fingers. He took a deep breath. He was a Gryffindor. He could do this.

"Here is our famous mermaid trio!" Kate shrilled. Harry, Ron, and Percy started and stared at the glass. There were three mermaids inside a tank, looking lethargic and ill. Harry felt a horrible tug in his gut. These weren't just any mermaids. He recognized them from the Black Lake. He and Ron stared at each other in horror.

"This isn't right," Percy muttered.

"They're not fish!" Harry growled. "They're intelligent beings. You have no right to lock them up."

Kate turned to him with a cold look. "I have every right to lock them up. I own them." She turned around and pointed to the next tank. "Now, please notice these handsome sea serpents!"

The sea serpents looked like huge, ugly snakes. Ron stepped on Harry's foot. "What are they…"

Harry glanced at Percy, who was swaying dangerously. Ron hoisted their friend's arm around his shoulders. "Percy, you okay? Here, sit down."

The sedatives were obviously messing with Percy, too.

Harry leaned up against the glass and stared at the nearest serpent. "How are you doing?" he whispered.

The serpent's eyes flew open and it drifted a bit closer to Harry. A cold voice filled Harry's mind. "Well, I'm in here, and you're out there, aren't I?"

"What's that hissing?" Percy muttered.

"Nothing," said Ron. "It's just the building. Collapsing."

Percy nodded and slumped back down.

"What have they done to you?" Harry asked.

The serpent's eyes fluttered. "It locked us here. Keeps us under sedatives. No chance of escape."

"You're talking to me, though," Harry remarked. "It can't be that bad."

The serpent rolled over. Its eyes closed. Harry winced. Their talk had taken the last bit of energy from the serpent.

Kate bounded over seconds later. "Ready, guys? I'd like to introduce my husband… _Phorcys!_ "

An old, ugly man crab-scuttled in. Percy shakily got to his feet, with Frank and Ron supporting him.

"I'm Phorcys!" said the man. He pointed to his name tag, which read 'Porky.'

Ron (rather rudely) pointed this out.

Porky blinked. "Oh. Whatever. These stupid costume designers have about zero talent. Like Keto here. They misspelled her name as Kate. Who are you? You don't smell right."

Ron was disgusted. "Smell? You smell like dead fish. I smell a whole lot better than you do, _Porky_."

Porky wisely chose not to respond. "Whatever. What do you want?"

Percy stepped forward, still wobbling dangerously. "We want to know where Otis and Ephialtes are."

"The _giants_?" Porky smirked. "They're idiots. If I were you, I'd stay far away from them and their Roman base. And that stupid bronze jar they've got with some demigod dying inside. They never really did have _the flair_."

"The _flair_?"

"For drama?" Porky said, like 'hel- _lo_!' "Come on. I'll show you. Walk this way!"

He turned sideways and scuttled into another tunnel.

Frank scratched his head. "Um…do we have to…" he turned sideways.

"Just an expression, dude," Percy said with a grin. Harry, Percy, Ron, and Frank followed Porky into the tunnel.

"I'll stay with Keto," Hedge decided. "I want to see more man-eating monsters!"

"Cheers," Harry said, feeling ill.

"What's this exhibit?" Ron asked, pointing to another tank. "I don't see anything."

"Sea spiders," said Porky proudly. He flipped a switch, and the tunnel filled with what was obviously supposed to be dramatic music. Out of a hidden hole, two man-sized spiders crawled out, clicking their pincers excitedly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGGGHHH!" Ron screamed, and thrust his hand into his pocket.

"Ron, NO!" Harry whispered fiercely. Ron, shaking visibly, left the wand where it was and backed away from the glass.

"Are you sure you're not a son of Athena?" Percy asked curiously. "I mean, not that I mind having you as my brother, but being scared of spiders is more of an Athena thing."

"Scared?" said Ron, who was clutching Harry's arm so hard that his eyes were starting to water. "Who-who's scared?"

"Do you want to feed it?" asked Porky innocently.

"Mommy!" Ron whimpered and practically dragged Harry away. Porky followed irritably, while Ron muttered something about Aragog.

Percy and Frank followed uncertainly.

"And finally, welcome to my masterpiece!" Porky said happily. The tunnel they were in had water above their heads and around them, fragile glass the only protection from drowning.

"Is that safe?" Ron asked.

"You're a son of Poseidon, Ron," Percy reminded him. "You can breathe underwater."

"Oh yeah…."

"And to answer your question, Ronald Billius Weasley," Porky said, "It is completely safe. For me, at least."

Ron's eyes widened. "How did you…"

"It's a trap!" Harry shouted, as his scar throbbed with pain. "We've got to get out of here!"

He raced towards the end of the tunnel. Glass slammed down over the entrance. Ron smacked it with his hand. "Let us go, Porky!"

"It's _Phorcys!_ " Porky shouted. "And absolutely not. You will be my main attraction! I'll have you all fight each other and monsters every day! I'll love to see the famous Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, against the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter!"

"Fancy titles, dude," Percy said. "Where'd you get them?"

"It's a long story," Harry said. "And _Porky_ , you haven't gotten through us!"

"It's Phorcys! Or Phorcys, _sir!_ "

"There's no need to call me _sir_ , Porky," Harry said coolly.

Porky glowered. "Be that way, Potter. Let's play a game, shall we? Let's see how the Boy Who Lived and his miserable allies fare against the great Porky-er, Phorcys!"

Harry and Ron glanced at each other. "I'm not his ally," Ron growled.

"You'll pay for this, Porky," Percy decided, drawing his sword.

"Will I?" asked Porky. He vanished.

His voice echoed through the aquarium. "I hope you can hold your breath."

There was an ominous cracking sound. The four looked up in horror. The glass, Harry and Ron's fragile lifeline, was breaking.

"Can we panic now?" Ron whispered.

"We're sons of Poseidon!" Percy shouted. "We'll be fine!"

"We're not!" Ron shrieked, as spurts of water sprayed through the breaking glass.

"What do you mean?" Percy shouted.

"Nothing!" Ron said.

"Ron, save it!" Harry yelled. "We've got no time. This qualifies as an emergency."

Ron nodded at Harry and the two of them, back to back, plunged their hands into their pockets.

"What are you doing?" Percy asked.

Several things suddenly happened at the same time. The glass broke completely, and water descended upon the four characters from all sides. Frank turned into a giant clownfish. Percy stood, nearly frozen in horror, wondering what would happen to Harry.

And Harry and Ron pulled thin, long pieces of wood out of their pockets and shouted a strange word in unison.

When Percy's vision cleared, he saw Harry sinking towards the bottom of the tank, looking mildly alarmed. He instantly propelled himself over and reached out-but then he started back, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Do you have a _fishbowl_ on your head?"

Harry stopped sinking and treaded water. "Technically, it's a bubble of air."

"How-how did you do that?"

"Son of Zeus?" he said hopefully, quickly putting the long stick he had been holding away.

Ron drifted over. "You all right, Harry?"

His voice was strangely echo-y. Percy noticed in surprise that Ron also had a bubble around his head. "What's going on?"

Frank the Clownfish drifted over. His voice spoke in Percy's head. "I don't think they're demigods, Percy."

Percy rounded on Ron and Harry. "Is that true?"

"Is what true?"

No, Ron definitely wasn't a son of Poseidon. He should have been able to hear Frank's voice.

"What are you?" Percy demanded. "Are you working for Gaea?"

Harry was about to respond when Porky's voice came over intercom again. "Well, well, well! You all survived! I'm so pleased that you finally learned the Bubble-Head charm, Potter. I have a customer who's _particularly_ anxious to meet you!"

Harry became pale. "Not-not-Lord Voldemort!"

"YOU-KNOW-WHO!" Porky shrieked. "Even now, we are afraid to speak his name! He will be delighted to know that I have finally apprehended you. After that business with his return in that graveyard-he was upset. He killed some people. He even came _here_ , to 2016, to find me and demand that if I ever capture you, I give you and any friends of yours to him. So sit tight, Mr. Potter. It'll take me a few days to contact him. Time travel isn't easy, you know."

Harry and Ron exchanged glances. "We have to get out of here."

"Who's Lord Voldywhat?" Percy demanded. "I want to know what's going on!"

"You want to know what's going on?" Porky demanded. "I'll tell you. Your so-called British _demigods_ are actually a race of wizards and witches, following Gaea! The great You-Know Who wishes Harry Potter dead. You-Know-Who is on your side, Jackson!"

"Then why are you working for him?" Percy demanded.

"I…um…you know what, just…if you ever get out, tell your girlfriend that if she ever finds the map in Charleston leading to the Athena Parenthos in Rome, she'll never survive. Ta-ta!"

Percy and Frank the Fish rounded on Harry and Ron again. "So. You're working for Gaea."

"We are _not_ ," Ron said. "And if you suggest that again, I'll make you belch slugs."

"No!" Harry said, grabbing Ron's arm. " _Remember last time._ "

Percy watched them suspiciously.

"Listen, guys. We have to get out of here. Lord Voldemort is coming. And if he finds us, he'll kill us all. No mercy. Do you understand?"

Percy raised an eyebrow.

Harry shrugged. "Let's get out first, and ask questions later."

Percy shrugged and drew his sword. He stabbed the glass as hard as he could.

The sword clanged off harmlessly.

Suddenly, they noticed two figures walking through the tunnel, next to their tank. _Hedge and Keto_.

"We have to get their attention!" Percy said. He grabbed his sword and smacked the glass with the hilt.

Hedge didn't notice, but kept walking.

"I'll handle this, thank you," Ron said. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the iron treasure chest lying on the ground. " _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

Nothing happened.

"Ron, you idiot! You're saying it wrong!" Harry practically shouted. "Don't you remember Hermione? It's Levi- _o-_ sa, not Levio- _sa_!"

"Oh yeah," said Ron. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The chest rose off of the ground. Percy and Frank watched with wide eyes as Ron directed the chest to the glass and rammed it into their crystal wall. The glass didn't crack, but Hedge looked back. His eyes widened. Then he pointed to something above Keto's head and screamed something. Keto whirled around, and Hedge roundhouse kicked her in the head.

"Nice," Harry said.

"Our wands are waterproof, right?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Harry said, thinking of the hour he had spent in the Black Lake.

Hedge ran over and stared. He shouted something, but Harry shrugged. They couldn't hear a thing on the other side.

"I've got an idea," Ron said. Harry turned to him.

Ron grabbed his backpack and started rummaging through its (hopefully waterproof) contents. He finally found what he was looking for.

"What's that?" said Harry curiously, looking at the small object in his friend's palm.

Ron grinned. "Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-Bangs. No heat, wet-start, works anywhere. It's Fred and George's prototype."

Harry beamed. "What are they going to use that for? Torturing the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"

"Why would they do that?" asked Ron as he drew his wand. "It's not like we're going to have some lunatic who only wears pink and makes us write lines with our own blood or something."

"Where did that even come from?" Harry demanded.

Ron shrugged. "Stand back, guys."

They stood back. Frank transformed into a human and covered his mouth immediately, trying to hold his breath. Harry quickly performed the bubble-head charm on him.

"What now?" asked Frank.

"Just wait," said Harry.

Frank wasn't altogether delighted with aiding allies of Gaea in their escape, or having his life depend on an evil wizard's spell, but he had no choice. He watched as Ron flicked his wand expertly and touched it to the small object in his hand, which instantly fizzed and grew into a man-sized dragon. It soared around the tank, narrowly missing Percy. The water seemed to have no effect on it.

"It's not doing anything," Frank pointed out.

"Just wait," said Ron as it soared towards the glass. "Harry, stun it on the count of three. One…two….three!"

"Stupefy!" Harry shouted. The spell hit the dragon just as it smacked into the wall.

The firework exploded with such force that it blew the glass apart. Water spilled out all over the floor, carpets, and Hedge.

"Finite Incantatem!" Harry and Ron chorused, and the bubble heads vanished.

"What should we do with them?" Piper asked coolly. "Lock these traitors in the brig until we can safely dispose of them?"

Fred and George glowered. "You aren't locking us up anywhere, McLean."

"It's seven to seven," Jason said. "But we're more talented."

"I wouldn't fight us," Hermione warned, drawing her wand. "We are more powerful than you."

"We're demigods," Percy said coldly. "What are you?"

The demigods charged.

Seven cries of "STUPEFY!" stopped the demigods in their tracks. The seven wizards stood over their friends' motionless bodies.

"What should we do?" Ron asked Hermione. "Erase their memories?"

"For what?" Hermione demanded. "They'll just figure it out again. And besides, that'd be really dangerous."

"Than what do we do?" Neville asked. "I mean, we've just attacked them. They'll never trust us now."

"We have to leave," Hermione whispered.

"What?" Fred and George shouted. "We can't go now! We have to protect them! We can't let Leo die! He had potential!"

"I know," Hermione said. "We won't. We'll figure out something. First, we have to get to Rome, and defeat Arachne before Annabeth gets there. If we recapture the Athena Parenthos, than we can regain their trust! Plus, Annabeth and Percy won't fall into Tartarus."

"Sounds good," the wizards decided.

"One problem," said Seamus. "How do we get off of this boat?"

Hermione laughed. "Problem easily solved."

She reached into her bookbag and pulled out a small jeweled purse.

"Is that a portal?" Ron asked eagerly.

"No. Shut up, Ronald."

Hermione unclasped the purse and stuck her whole arm inside. Fred and George jumped back in alarm. She withdrew it a moment later with-

"That is literally, the most disgusting thing I have ever seen."

It was an old, beat up, tiny, and possibly moldy book. Ron looked at it suspiciously, and then started to laugh. " _Prefects Who Gained Power_? You're going to get us to Rome with _Prefects Who Gained Power_?"

"A Study of Hogwarts Prefects and their Later Careers," Fred read aloud off the back cover.

"You have sunk to a new depth, Hermione," George concluded.

"It's a Portkey, you idiots," Hermione said. She tapped it with her wand. " _Portus_."

The Portkey glowed blue.

"Everyone grab on," Hermione instructed. She pointed her wand at the group of demigods. " _Ennervate._ "

They slowly and shakily got up and stared in surprise and the group of wizards. "You attacked us!" Jason shouted.

"We protected ourselves," Hermione said miserably.

"Stay safe," Neville said.

The Portkey glowed brighter. Hermione touched her finger to the book just in time.

There was a flash of light, and the wizards were gone.

Piper stumbled into Jason's arms.


	4. The Quest

Chapter Four: The Quest

"What if they weren't evil?" Leo asked Hazel. She bowed her head.

"I think they were, Leo. They lied to us. They convinced us that they were demigods. And-"

"They saved our lives," Leo said. "Frank and Percy, from Porky. Me and Hazel, from those nymphs. Remember how Neville dueled Narcissus?"

"That was amazing," Annabeth agreed.

"So what if we're wrong?" Leo asked. "What if they were just…different?"

Piper closed her eyes. "Then we've made a terrible mistake."

"Where _are_ we?" Hermione whispered. Ron shook his head. He had no idea.

They were in a large room, filled with caged monsters, deadly weapons, and a Barbie cutout (for some reason). The center attraction was a huge pot, big enough to hold a human being.

Ron covered Hermione's hand with his. "I'll check it out. Harry, Seamus, come with me. Fred, George, Neville-stay here. Protect Hermione."

"I don't need three protectors," Hermione muttered, but Harry, Seamus and Ron had already cautiously exited their hiding place. The monsters instantly began to screech, roar, and otherwise freak out.

They were halfway across the room before disaster struck.

An extraordinarily tall man was lowered, on a ramp, into the room. He was vaguely humanoid, but with purple hair and snakes for legs. He glanced over to the wizards and laughed uproariously. "I knew you would come! So kind of you to join us, Percy Jackson!"

Harry realized suddenly that this monster didn't know him. Harry could use this. "Yes, I am here, with my amazing water powers!" Harry shouted, trying his best to mask his accent. "Fear me!"

"Not likely," the giant sneered. "Otis!"

A section of the floor spiraled open and a platform rose out of the ground. The giant's mouth dropped open. Harry, Ron, and Seamus stared.

Otis, the other giant, was on the platform, looking extremely disgruntled and miserable. He was wearing a tiara and a baby-blue tutu and tights, complete with a puffy skirt. His green hair was pulled back into a bun. He looked almost exactly like his brother, minus the shocked expression.

"Otis…what-what are you _wearing_?"

"I wanted a ballet, Ephialtes," Otis said. "You never let me be who I want to be. I want to be a ballerina!"

"You're a giant!" Ephialtes screamed. "You cannot be a ballerina!"

"But-but Barbie says that you can be anything!" Otis said, glancing at the Barbie cutout.

"I don't care what Barbie says!" Ephialtes howled, clutching his hair in frustration. "She is a fictional character! She is made up, Otis! We're not part of a book series! We have roles to play! People to murder! Like Percy Jackson right there, and his little gang of followers!"

He threw a spear through the Barbie cutout's head to prove his point.

Otis growled. "Fine. Kill first, dance later."

Ephialtes beamed. "I knew you'd come around, brother. I told you that the di Angelo-in-a-Jar Act would draw the demigods to us-and look, here they are!"

"You've got a _what_ in that jar?" Ron asked.

Ephiates snickered. "Your little friend Nico di Angelo, of course. Son of Hades."

"Is he alive?" Seamus demanded.

"Woah, Annabeth Chase," Otis gasped. "Your voice is really weird. It's like, deep. And Irish!"

"I've got a cold," said Seamus in a falsely high-pitched voice.

"Well, Annabeth, to answer your question…let's find out!"

Ephialtes snapped his fingers and a drumroll sounded somewhere in the background. He kicked the jar over. A boy, pale as death (pun intended) rolled out. Harry stepped back, horribly reminded of a pale Ginny Weasley lying at the feet of Tom Marvolo Riddle.

"You've gotten lucky, demigods!" Ephialtes announced. "Nico is still alive…but only just."

"Let him go, Ephialtes," Harry hissed.

"Come and get him," Ephialtes challenged.

Harry, Ron, and Seamus exchanged looks. They drew their demigod weapons and charged.

Ephialtes appeared right in front of Harry and Ron. They both stabbed at him. Ephialtes drew his own spear and parried. Harry and Ron sparred for a minute, but quickly realized that they were outmatched.

"Now!" Harry shouted. He and Ron drew their wands and pointed straight above themselves, at a rope holding a weight. " _Diffindo!_ "

Ephialtes barely had time to look up.

The weight smashed into him, and Harry and Ron ran towards Nico di Angelo.

Meanwhile, Seamus was battling Otis. Seamus was being forced slowly back, even though Otis insisted on pirouetting every time he struck. Finally, Seamus threw away his spear. Otis hesitated. "Are you surrendering?"

"You wanna dance, Otis?" Seamus asked coolly. He drew his wand and pointed it at Otis. "Then dance! _Taranterella!_ "

Otis' legs jerked around in a ridiculous hip-hop dance.

Seamus darted past him and caught up to Harry and Ron, who were standing over Nico di Angelo.

"Is he breathing?" Seamus whispered.

"I don't know," Harry murmured.

The ghostly boy on the ground suddenly coughed. His eyes flew open. "Percy-who-"

"Sssh," said Harry in his best Percy Jackson impression. "I'm Percy. We'll get you out of here."

"Is that so?" a voice snarled behind him. The three whirled around. Ephialtes stood there, looking cross. "Only a half-blood can kill me. And you're not Percy Jackson. You're no demigod."

Otis danced over. "We will kill you now. Only a half-blood and a god together can destroy a giant."

"Do we have a god handy?" asked Fred. Ephialtes looked around in surprise. He and Otis were surrounded by wizards.

"Absolutely," said a voice above them. A fat man in a leopard-patterned shirt was suddenly standing on a balcony above. "Dionysus, god of wine, at absolutely no one's service but my own."

"Dionysus!" Ephialtes said. "Pleased to see you. Now we can destroy you quickly!"

"I don't think so," said Dionysus, and clapped his hands.

Suddenly, the seven wizards found themselves on one side of an arena, watching Otis and Ephialtes on the other side. But not just any arena. The Roman colosseum.

"What…?"

"Only a half-blood and a god can destroy a giant," Dionysus said happily. "But I'll get to watch you guys fight."

"Get out of here," Harry said to his friends.

"What?"

"No!"

"Not all of you," Harry explained. "Seamus-you stay with me."

"I'm your best friend though!" Ron complained.

"Yes. But you're pure-blood. Seamus and I are half-bloods."

Hermione beamed. "Genius."

"No way are we leaving!" Ron decided, but Fred and George grabbed him and pulled him to the sidelines.

"We're not letting you get killed, Ronnie," Fred said. Hermione and Neville followed and looked back at the solitary half-bloods.

"Good luck, guys."

They would need it.

With a roar, Otis and Ephialtes charged Harry and Seamus.

Seamus lost his head completely and screamed, "Gianticus!"

Otis grew another four feet and snickered. "Who's the big brother now, Ephialtes?"

Ephialtes was not pleased. "You grew my brother! I ought to kill you for that!"

"You were going to kill us anyways," Harry pointed out, pointing his wand at Ephialtes. "Stupefy!"

Unfortunately, his spell hit Ephialtes' breastplate. Fortunately, it rebounded off and hit Otis in the face. He keeled over. Ephialtes kept coming, sneering.

"Reducio!" Seamus yelled, and his spell hit the giant straight in the eye. Ephialtes shrank to their height, but as he was still twice as muscular as Harry, this wasn't a huge improvement.

Otis stirred.

Ephialtes rolled his eyes and drew a giant sword. "Let's see who the better fighter is now!"

"Let's not," said Seamus.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted. Ephialtes' sword flew out of his hand and buried itself in a nearby statue.

Ephialtes shrugged and charged Harry and Seamus barehanded, which was probably not the best idea.

"What did you hit him with?" asked Fred, standing next to Harry. Ephialtes was unconscious, and kept alternating form between a lizard and a porcupine with olives on its quills.

"I did the porcupine-prick jinx," Seamus said.

"The lizard was me," Harry grinned.

"Yes, yes, blah blah blah," Dionysus snapped. "Now, move over so I can kill these things."

He disappeared and reappeared next to the giants. He tapped each of them with a staff, and they disintegrated. "Behold my powers! Bow before me!"

"You literally just tapped them with a stick," said Harry.

"I know! I even moved a bit! Don't smart off at me, Harold Pointer!"

"Harry Potter," Harry said irritably, and rejoined his friends.

Hermione was frowning and biting her lip. "Guys, how are we even going to _find_ the Athena Parenthos? Only a daughter of Athena can find it! There aren't loopholes in everything. I don't think we can."

"You're going after the _Athena Parenthos_?" a voice demanded behind them. The wizards turned around in surprise. It was Nico di Angelo, looking a bit shaky and pale but standing.

"Um…"

"Where's Percy Jackson and the others?" Nico demanded. "And what were you doing out there? Are you children of Hecate?"

Harry flattened his bangs nervously. "Not exactly. We're wizards, you see. We go to a special school and learn about our powers. We were pretending to be demigods to help on this quest, but we were discovered. The actual seven thought we were traitors and spies for Gaea. We're not, though! We're against Gaea. We have to help, or else someone is going to die."

Nico stared for a minute. Then he slowly spoke. "Well, I don't think you're traitors. You saved my life and killed those giants. If you were evil, you would have killed me and let the giants off. I believe you, and I'll vouch for you."

Seven sighs of relief.

"But there's still the matter of the Athena Parenthos," Nico continued. "Which we can't find. But we _can_ follow _that_ ship."

He pointed up. The unmistakable hull of the Argo II was flying above, casting a dark shadow onto the onlookers.

Fred, George, Seamus, Hermione, Neville, and Ron nodded. Harry grinned.

"I'm in."


	5. Chasing the Dragons

Chapter Five: Chasing the Dragons

"Is this hard?" Nico di Angelo asked nervously, holding the broomstick in his hand.

"Yes," Hermione said. She was on the back of Ron's broomstick, floating a few feet above the ground.

He got on the broomstick and kicked off. Being Ron's old Shooting Star, it slowly flew into the air, shaking. The wizards followed with ease, and soon the eight questers were following the Argo II from above.

"Where's it going?" Hermione called.

"I don't know," Harry confessed.

Piper, on the deck of the Argo II, glared at Katoptris. "Show me Hermione Granger!"

The dagger showed fog.

"Seamus Finnigan!"

Fog.

"Harry Potter! Ron Weasley! Neville Longbottom! Fred and George Weasley!"

Fog.

"Getting anything?" Percy asked. They had found the giants' lair deserted, with signs of a nasty fight. The bronze jar was shattered. Nico was gone. The ship was heading towards Annabeth: Percy helped that she might be able to figure something out.

"Fog," Piper said irritably. "It's like they're stuck in a cloud or something."

Percy snorted. "As if."

"I'm _freezing,"_ Neville complained. He was sharing Harry's broomstick, as the last time Neville had been on a broom, he had broken his wrist.

"We've had practices worse than this," Fred said grimly. "Wood will make us fly in anything."

"Are we still on the Argo II's course?" Harry asked through chattering teeth.

"I'll check," Fred said, and swooped down.

Hazel screamed.

"What?" Frank was instantly beside her, nocking an arrow.

"A face!" Hazel gasped, pointing at the clouds. "There was a face in the clouds!"

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, running up.

"Hazel's seeing faces," said Frank.

"Are you hearing voices?" Leo asked, with a slight grin.

"It's not funny, Valdez! There's someone following us through the air!"

"What did he look like?" Percy asked, coming over.

Hazel shuddered. "You're not going to believe this," she said, "but I think it was one of the Weasley twins."

"We'll worry about them later," said Percy grimly. "We're here."

The ship started to drop from the sky.

No one noticed seven wizards and one demigod, stealthily following.

Annabeth was unable to process what she was seeing.

It was raining cars.

She twisted out of the way, and watched Arachne tumble into the pit.

A ladder dropped down.

Annabeth reached.

A spider-web shot from the pit, and grabbed her ankle.

With a scream, Annabeth Chase fell.

Another scream, from above.

A different language.

"DIFFINDO!"

The spider-web was severed by a flash of red light. Percy grabbed her arm. He was holding on to a cliff with just one hand, slowly slipping.

And then, a blur, a rush of wind, and Annabeth was _flying._

She was clutching someone's hand, and literally soaring through the air.

Exhilaration.

The hand pulled her up, and suddenly she was holding on for dear life as a black haired, bespectacled boy looped easily around the falling cars and shot, breakneck speed, towards the deck of the Argo II. The boy stopped, and she realized that they were sitting on a fancy-looking broomstick.

He helped her off. "Stay put."

"What?"

He clambered back on and expertly took off. He was back seconds later with Percy.

"Did we just get rescued by a traitor?" Percy shouted.

"Something weird is going on here," Annabeth determined.

They rushed to the side, and stared down at the chaos.

The Athena Parenthos was being loaded into the ship by a group of demigods, wizards, and a giant eagle who must have been Frank.

The hole was crumbling. The Athena Parenthos made it into the ship just in time.

The demigods and wizards converged on the deck. The demigods drew their weapons. The wizards drew their wands.

"WAIT!"

It was Nico di Angelo. Pale, tired, but alive.

"NICO!" Hazel screamed. She hugged her brother tightly. "You're alive!"

"Of course," Nico said, gently detaching himself from his sister. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"But-the giants were gone-and the pot was broken-"

Nico grinned. "Otis and Ephialtes are dead."

"How?" the seven demigods chorused.

He gestured to the magicians on the deck.

"They saved my life. They got me out of the jar. Harry and Seamus killed Otis and Ephialtes-with Dionysus' help."

"Impossible," Annabeth said immediately. "Only half-bloods and a god together can kill a giant."

"Seamus and I are half-bloods," Harry said.

"Not _this_ again," Percy snapped. "We saw you do magic."

"But we _are_ ," Harry said, looking irritable.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why don't you let me explain, boys?"

They immediately stepped back. "Go ahead, Hermione."

"In our world, we're divided up into three groups," Hermione explained. "The first are the pure-bloods, like Neville and the Weasleys. It means that everyone in their family is of magical blood. Some purebloods are really proud of that, and believe that they are the only ones who should receive magical training-because their blood is 'untainted'."

"That's awful," Percy decided. "Who would say that?"

"Malfoy," all seven said at once.

"Draco Malfoy's a pureblood and my worst enemy," Harry explained.

"Twitchy little ferret he is," Ron added.

He and Harry stood silently beaming and staring up at the sky dramatically for a moment, remembering the case of Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing Ferret.

"Okay," Hermione said. "Then there are the halfbloods, like Seamus and Harry here. It means that they have some magical blood, and some muggle blood. Like Seamus has a muggle-which means unmagical-father, and witch mother. Harry's mother was muggle-born."

"So you bent the rules…" Annabeth said with a grin.

"Bending the rules is our specialty," Fred and George chorused.

"We know," Hermione said with a sigh. "And finally, the muggle-borns. Like me. It means that both my parents were unmagical. In the wizarding world, purebloods like Malfoy look down on my heritage and call muggle-borns rude names, like 'mudblood'."

"That's awful!" Leo said.

Hermione shrugged.

"Okay," Nico said. "The point is, they're not evil. They're from another time. They're here to protect us, and make sure we're safe."

The seven demigods considered this.

"You could use us in your crew," Hermione said. "Now that you know the truth about our powers, we can be of real help. Our magic can do many things that you guys can't. We'd be an unstoppable force against Gaea and the giants."

The demigods whispered among themselves for a while.

Finally, Percy Jackson stepped forward and held out his hand. Harry Potter shook it.

"Welcome aboard."


End file.
